
About

First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing is a dynamic Aboriginal community controlled health service aiming to improve access to affordable primary health care in urban Melbourne. The organisation was previously known as Access Services for Koories which was set up to improve primary health care access for First Peoples in the north west of Melbourne. In 2018 the organisation expanded to set up a clinic in an area with unmet primary health care need in Thomastown. To reflect this development the name of the organisation was changed to First Peoples’ Health and Wellbeing
The beautiful artwork for our logo was designed by Mikaela Egan, a
Muthi Muthi/Gunditjmara woman - Koorie Prints
Australian First Peoples' culture is the oldest continuing culture on the
planet more than 60,000 years old. To sustain our culture over this time
we supported the holistic health of our people through wellbeing and
medicine practices handed down through oral traditions. The brutal
colonisation of Australia interrupted this practice through an attempt to
remove our culture from our ancestors and consequent generations. However,
we are a staunch and strong people, surviving and continually recovering from this appalling history.
Tea tree, or burgan in the Woiwurrung language of the Melbourne area, is our logo and one small part of our age old surviving and continuing holistic wellbeing and medicine practice. The leaves are used by First Peoples across Australia to strengthen spirit and for its anti-fungal and antibacterial properties. This medicine has been adopted more widely by settler Australians and internationally.
We humbly pay respect to the wisdom of our ancestors and commit to First Peoples' healing ways that continue to strengthen our spirit, people, community and country.
We also commit to an Australian First Peoples' definition of health.
"Aboriginal health means not just the physical well-being of an individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural well-being of the whole Community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being thereby bringing about the total well-being of their Community. It is a whole of life view and includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life."
National Aboriginal Health Strategy (NAHS) 1989.
Our Logo and Committment
First Peoples' Health and Wellbeing